1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in an electric hybrid vehicle in which a motor for driving a vehicle body receives an electric power from a battery and an engine-driven generator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 3-143201 discloses a typical electric hybrid vehicle which is provided with a battery and a generator driven by an engine. The electric hybrid vehicle is arranged such that an ON-OFF operation of the engine for the generator is controlled according to a battery charged condition. More particularly, when the battery is in a fully charged condition, the engine is stopped and the motor is rotated by using electric power from the battery. When the battery charged condition becomes lower than a first predetermined value, the engine is started to drive the generator. The electric power from the generator is used to rotate the motor and to charge the battery until the battery charged condition becomes higher than a second predetermined value. Further, the output of the engine is automatically controlled such that the rotating speed of the generator is set at a rating point by controlling an actuator and the like connected to a throttle valve of the engine.
However, in this conventional electric hybrid vehicle, since the engine is intermittently operated at a rating rotating speed, a lot of exhaust gas is discharged before the catalyst of a catalytic converter becomes active in temperature. Thus, the conventional electric hybrid vehicle operates in a manner which degrades a significant advantage of an electric vehicle as being low pollution vehicle.